Paper Planes
by tashameg
Summary: When Katniss Everdeen finds out she will be competing for the job of her dreams against her old college buddy Peeta Mellark, she's determined to win at all costs. As they sabotage each other's plans for the ultimate job title, Katniss finds herself falling for him. What's a girl to do? Peeniss/Keeta (Peeta x Katniss) MODERN AU Rated T


**Hi there! Thanks for clicking on my story! I really hope you guys like this because I've been working hard on it! Well, here it is. Chapter 1 of Paper Planes!**

"Hold the elevator!" I hear a voice call. My hand flies to the button panel and I open the doors. A blonde man who looks to be about my age steps into the elevator and mumbles a thanks. The elevator is silent except for the annoying upbeat elevator music that always plays here. I would know, I've been in this building hundreds of times. Except this time, I will leave this building with a job. I've been going for the editorial job for months and I've finally been called back for a second interview. The blonde man breaks the silence after a few moments.  
"Katniss? Katniss Everdeen? Is that you?" he says. I turn to him and take in his facial features, trying to figure out where I've seen him before.  
"Oh my God! Peeta!" I exclaim. "Peeta Mellark. I haven't seen you in years!"  
"Yeah! Wow. It's good to see you. How've you been?" he asks me, his smile wide and his eyes just as blue as I remember them.  
"Oh, I've been fine. How about you?" I ask.  
"Oh, same old, same old. So what have you been doing?" I went to college with Peeta a few years back. We studied journalism together. We didn't really know each other, but it's nice to catch up with him. We talk until we reach my floor.  
"Well, this is my stop. See you around," I say, stepping out of the elevator. It's not until I'm about halfway down the hall do I hear more footsteps behind me. I flick my head around and spot Peeta walking just behind me. "Are you stalking me now, Mellark?" I ask him with a laugh.  
"Oh, don't be so up yourself, sweetheart," I hear the familiar voice of Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch has been working at the front desk since before I can remember. "He's probably just here for an interview again." I roll my eyes at Haymitch.  
"Yeah, sure. Anyway, I'm here for the eleven o'clock with Effie," I tell him, sitting down on a chair in the corner.  
"But, I'm here for an eleven o'clock with Effie," Peeta says, bringing my attention back to his presence.  
"Wait, what? How?" I ask him.  
"She called me last week and told me that I have an interview with her," Peeta says, sitting down on the chair across from me. _Wait a second. If we both have that interview, that can only mean one thing. _My thoughts are cut off by the sound of the large mahogany doors opening and Effie's assistant Madge telling us we may see her. Madge and I have become quite good friends since I went for this job last year.  
"Good luck," she whispers as I walk past her and through the door. Effie is waiting outside of her office and she smiles at the sight of Peeta and I.  
"Peeta, Katniss! Glad you're here!" she trills in her high voice. Haymitch and I sometimes contemplate where exactly she's from, but we don't dare ask her. "Come in, come in!" she says, leading us into her office. Peeta and I sit in the plush yellow chairs across from her desk.  
"Miss Trinket, always a pleasure to see you," Peeta says, his voice as polite as ever.  
"Hello Effie," I say, hoping that my greeting will at least suffice compared to Peeta's.  
"Now, you are both probably wondering why you are both in here," Effie says, flicking through the pages on her desk and straightening her purple pens. Effie has always had an extravagant style, and her office is no exception. Everything in this room is colourful, it's actually giving me a bit of a headache. Bright orange curtains are hung over the curtain rod, and there are little splashes of colour splashed all over the wall in the form of picture frames. Effie herself is quite colourful today, with gold eyeliner and pink eye shadow, and don't even get me started on her outfit. "Long story short, we think that both of you would be fabulous at this job! Unfortunately, only one job is available for that position. So, we're putting you both on a sixty day trial," Effie says, her smile never once leaving her face.  
"Wait, so when we're done, the best person for the job gets it. Is that correct?" Peeta asks.  
"Yes, exactly! Well, good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour!" Effie says. Peeta and I take that as our cue to leave. We bid Effie goodbye and walk out of the office. We stand outside of the office for a second until what just happens sinks in.  
"I guess we're co-workers now," Peeta says with a laugh.  
"For sixty days," I say, a smirk plastered onto my face. Effie is obviously going to choose me. We've spoken hundreds of times. Unlike her and Peeta. I'm sure they only just met a week ago. We feel eyes on us and we turn to see Effie looking at us through the glass surrounding her office. It's soundproofed, but I expect she's just waiting to see our attitudes to each other. I put my hand out for him to shake. He shakes my hand and looks me directly in the eyes.  
"It's on, Mellark," I say, our hands still firmly connected.  
"Oh, you bet, Everdeen," he replies, letting go of my hand and walking down the hallway. He gets in the elevator and turns to face me.  
"You coming?" he asks me. I walk up the hall as fast as my heels will allow me. "See you around," he says with a smirk, closing the elevator doors and leaving me standing less than a metre away. _Well, well, Mellark. I never knew you were so mean._

"Johanna! Can you come here for a second?" I yell from my bedroom. I can hear Johanna's slippers on the hardwood floor of our apartment.  
"Yeah?" she asks as she pops her head through the door.  
"Which outfit should I wear tomorrow?" I say, gesturing to the two outfits laid out on my bed.  
"Wear the light blue one tomorrow and wear the black one on Friday," Johanna says, taking a bite out of her apple.  
"But what if I get a stain on the blue one? I mean, it'll be my first day, and how embarrassing would it be to have a stain there?" I say, chewing my finger nails and pacing my small bedroom.  
"Then wear the black one!" Johanna says. I can tell she's getting impatient but I can't help it. I'm freaking out. I have to be great, even better than Peeta. I have to get this job.  
"But then people will think I'm some weird gothic person. Plus, Effie likes things to be very colourful and I _need_ to impress her!" I say. Johanna rolls her eyes and walks to the wardrobe, pulling out my black jeans and red jacket, pairing it with a simple white shirt and brown suede boots.  
"Christ, Katniss. Just wear this and then go shopping for different clothes this weekend," Johanna reasons, laying the outfit out on my bed. "Remember, you're a journalist, not a lawyer. You don't need to be made up all the bloody time."  
"You're right," I say with a sigh. "Thanks." I walk into the living room and sit on our brown recliner, setting my feet up and relaxing into the chair. "What are we watching?"  
"Some horror movie I found," Johanna says, lying down on the couch and pulling her blanket up around her neck.  
"And with that, I will be going. Goodnight," I say, getting up and leaving the room.  
"Night," I hear her say. I get dressed in my flannel pyjama pants and throw on a singlet, crawling into my bed and snuggling up next to my body pillow.

A beeping noise pulls me out of my dreams. I smash my hand over the alarm clock, effectively shutting it up. I pull the blankets away from my face and slowly place my feet on the floor. I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and look around my room. I spot my outfit on a chair and I smile widely. I completely forget about how tired I am and begin to focus on the hot shower that awaits me. I'm in and out of the shower in less than five minutes. Johanna stumbles into my room at about seven.  
"What's with the noise? Can't people sleep in this house? God," she mumbles.  
"Sorry?" I say with a laugh. I shrug on my jacket and zip up my boots. I'm feeling awake now. And ready for anything.

"Hello, sweetheart. Looking horrible as always, I see," Haymitch says as I walk past him. He's right, the wind completely ruined my hair, but I'm on time, and that's really all that matters. And that I'm here before Peeta.  
"Yeah, yeah. Nice to see you too," I say as I try desperately to make my hair stay down. Once I've done all that I can to my hair, I push open the doors and make my way to Effie's office. I knock on her door and she looks up from her desk, smiling and gesturing me in.  
"Wonderful, you're here! I'll just call Madge…" Effie says, her hand over her buzzer. She presses the button and within seconds Madge is standing at the door.  
"Yes, Miss Trinket?" Madge says.  
"Lead Katniss to her working space. She'll be placed next to Mr Mellark," Effie says, gesturing to me. I get up and Madge leads me to a large room with a cubicles scattered throughout it. She takes me further through the room and I find myself standing in front of a large glass door.  
"Your office is just through there. You will be sharing with Mr Mellark," Madge says, pointing to the door. "Good luck, Katniss." She hugs me before walking back through to Effie's office. I walk into my shared office and look around. There's colourful chairs in the corner with a small glass table in the centre, piled high with copies of _Capitol Cosmo_. There's a white desk on either side of the room with a large white computer. I imagine Effie wants us to decorate this room with colour. I'll leave that to Peeta. Our desk chairs are white with a simple yellow piece of fabric strewn over it. Fairly minimalist considering how extravagant the head editor is. While I wait I flip through the magazines and take small sips of water from a little cup. I'm about halfway through an article about dressing for your body type when the door flies open, startling me and making me throw my magazine across the room. Peeta walks in looking smug.  
"Most people say 'hi', but I guess that'll do," he says with a small smile.  
"Hello," I say through gritted teeth. "A pleasure to see you."  
"Likewise," he replies, sitting at the desk on the right side of the room.  
"That's my desk," I say.  
"Oh, really? And what makes you think that?" he says, rubbing his hands all over the keyboard while looking me in the eye.  
"Oh, I don't know, probably sticky note that says '_Katniss'_ on the side of the computer," I say, watching as Peeta feels around the side of the computer for a note.  
"There's nothing there," he says after he's felt every inch of the computer. I get up and grab a sticky note from the large pile on the desk. I reach into my bag and grab a black ink pen, scrawling my name on the sticky note and sticking it to the computer.  
"Yeah, it's right there," I say, pointing at it.  
"Cheater," Peeta says. "You're a cheater."  
"Oh, don't be so childish," I say with a smirk. Peeta pokes his tongue out at me.  
"Two can play at this game," he declares, snatching the pen out of my hand and writing his name directly underneath his, making sure that my name is crossed out completely. "It's mine now."  
"Ugh, fine. But just so you know, I hate you," I say as I poke my tongue out at him.  
"Ooh, who's being childish now?" he teases. I roll my eyes and sit at the other desk. We sit in silence until Peeta speaks up.  
"What exactly do we do?" he asks. I actually have no idea what to say, because I don't know. I shrug. "Oh, come on! We're at _Capitol Cosmo _HQ! There _has_ to be something fun to do!" Peeta exclaims.  
"Well, maybe there is," I say, raising my eyebrow.

I squeal as the wind rushes through my hair and hold on tighter to the mail cart. We race up and down the hallway, the wheels turning faster and faster. Just as we're about to go for another lap we hear Haymitch yelling.  
"Quick! Effie is coming!" he yells. I jump out of the cart and Peeta pushes it as fast as he can through the door to the mail room. Effie pushes through the front doors just as Peeta leaves the mail room.  
"Hello! I've got an awful headache, so could you please keep the mail cart racing _quiet_? Thank you," Effie says. Once Effie walks back into her office Peeta and I burst out laughing. Our laughter soon dies down to the occasional chuckle as we walk back to our office. I sit down on a yellow armchair and rest my feet. Meanwhile, Peeta is sitting at his desk and flinging pieces of scrunched up paper into the bin.  
"You know, we should probably start doing some work. We weren't hired to race mail carts," Peeta says and I let out a small laugh.  
"Yeah but what exactly are we meant to be doing?" I ask.  
"Maybe she wants us to decorate or something. I mean, it's not like Effie to have a room as bare as this. We should do something to it. Curtains or something," Peeta says. I get up and walk over to my desk, opening the draws to see if Effie might've left us something to work with. I find simple office supplies and some colourful pens, but other than that, there's nothing.  
"Check your draws. See if there's anything there," I tell him. He rummages through his desk draws and pulls out what looks like catalogues. Peeta flings me one and I flick through it, looking at pages and pages of colourful furniture and rugs.  
"Looks like we're going shopping," he says.

**I really hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of this and leave me a review if you think I should write another chapter! Thanks xxx**


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